"Flagrant foul" is the hardest slap and harshest grade from Bridge Magazine's Truth Squad, which evaluates the accuracy of political ads and other materials.
The failing rank goes to the new Michigan Education Association spot above. The teachers' union backs Mark Schauer, the Democratic candidate for governor.
This 81-second video . . . employs slapstick and satire to take on GOP Gov. Rick Snyder and his role in funding K-12 education.
The video draws a cause-and-effect link between the Snyder tax changes and cuts to sports, band and other programs that local districts have made in tough fiscal times. Plenty of districts are running deficits and making cuts to programs as a result; but the causes of these cuts at the local level are many and complex and certainly involve factors beyond policies enacted by Snyder.
The online publication's conclusion:
This video flatly states that Snyder’s tax changes rewarded CEOs with “big bonuses.” That goes beyond hyperbole and into the realm of cynical, pandering fiction.
Snyder cut K-12 funding in his first school budget, but has approved increases since then.
"Flagrant foul," the lowest of four categories in Bridge's ongoing evaluations, applies to ads with "a false statement about a candidate’s position or a fact involving policy."
In a comment below Wednesday's post, reader Jim Storey says:
If teachers can’t tell the truth when the whole world is watching a TV advertisement, think about the mistruths that are being fed students in Michigan’s public school classrooms 5 days a week?
Most "Truth Squad" posts are posted without bylines as "team efforts, with editor David Zeman having final authority over the published content," the magazine says.
-- Alan Stamm
